Over the past six years, Wozniacki has done it all for the Pilot Pen/New Haven Open at Yale and now, the Connecticut Open Tennis Tournament. In 2008, as a wide-eyed, blue-eyed teenager, she came to the Connecticut Tennis Center, rolled through five matches to win the title. Three additional titles (back-to-back-to-back) followed and even through the past two trips to the Elm City have produced semifinals losses, it is Sweet Caroline who continues to be the crown jewel of this tournament that will celebrate its 17th year in a little over three weeks.

"I love coming back. Of course, it always helps when you've played well somewhere in the past," Wozniacki said Thursday on a conference call with the state media. "I love that it's on the Yale campus, I love the atmosphere and I love how we players get so well taken care of. I think it's a great way for me to prepare for the U.S. Open."

Wozniacki loves the quiet -- the New Haven calm before the New York City storm --she loves the restaurants, loves how the tournament treats her (and all the other players for that matter) and loves the fact that she's only lost twice here in 24 matches.

"You don't win four times someplace without feeling really at home and really comfortable," she said. "I definitely love coming back and feel good and happy when I do come back."

There is something to be said for being treated right. And that's why, since almost Day One, Wozniacki has done what she could to help Worcester promote the tournament and sell tickets. This year, she committed to New Haven on June 3, giving Worcester ample time to picture the four-time champion on ticket brochures, billboards and marketing materials across the state.

"I'm really grateful to her," Worcester said. "She's always been so loyal. It means everything to a tournament and to a tournament director. When Caroline won here in 2008, little did I know that she would create a love affair with this event, with Yale University and with the fans. She's so fan-friendly, she walks around downtown, she walks around the site. She is the player that the fans ask most about when they're ordering tickets. She means everything to the tournament and to me."

Wozniacki's four New Haven titles tie her with Venus Williams, who won four straight Pilot Pen crowns between 1999 and 2002. Not only would she like to win a fifth title to break that tie, she's looking at crossing off a couple of other items off her "bucket list," by one day winning a Grand Slam title and also running in the New York City marathon -- which she's going to do this November.

"I kind of looked at the (WTA) schedule this year and I thought ...November, I don't have much planned and I thought it (running the marathon) would be a fun challenge," said Wozniack, who's probably run thousands of miles in training but has never gone more than 11 miles straight in any one stretch.

"I'm going to be doing it for charity, I'm going to do it for Team for Kids, which is a charity that helps kids get into running programs and get active and live a healthier lifestyle. Since sports was always a huge part of my upbringing I thought this would be a great charity for me to be associated with and I could raise a lot of money."

Besides, it's a challenge and Wozniacki, 24, has never backed away from trying anything at least once.

"I wanted to do something that almost seemed impossible so this way I can show others that even though it might seem impossible, it's not. I want to be an inspiration," said Wozniacki, who is coming off a high-profile breakup of her engagement with golf star Rory McIlroy. "I've never run that kind of distance, but I run every day and running is a big part of my fitness regime. Obviously, running a marathon is definitely something outside my comfort zone but I'm real excited for this challenge.

"Honestly, I just want to finish and if I have to crawl across that finish line I will crawl over it. It's going to be intimidating just standing at the start line, but I think it's going to be an amazing feeling when I finish."